Tag: Baltimore Ravens COVID-19

Ravens players frustrated over NFL’s handling of outbreak, pushed back against playing Steelers Tuesday

Baltimore Ravens players held a meeting to share their frustrations about how the NFL handled the outbreak and their quick turnaround.

The Baltimore Ravens have been dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak over the last week that has seen their Week 12 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers be rescheduled twice prior to today. With the game originally scheduled for Tuesday (it’s been rescheduled again), Baltimore’s players drew a line in the sand.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens players had a meeting with NFLPA representatives about the health and safety of such a quick turnaround. Though Baltimore last played a football game more than a week ago, they have yet to practice outside of a walkthrough prior to the outbreak. The Ravens had tried to hold a practice on Monday morning but the NFL canceled it. According to Rapoport, players were adamant that they get at least one day of practice before playing against the Steelers.

That wasn’t the only concern and complaint from Baltimore’s players, however. The Ravens haven’t had a single day without a positive COVID-19 test since last Monday. In total, Baltimore has placed 22 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list over the last week in addition to several staff members testing positive as well. According to Rapoport, Baltimore’s players were concerned about playing a game despite not having any days with negative tests.

It’s unclear if the Ravens’ concerns were a driving factor for the NFL rescheduling the game again or not. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Sun noted players had been frustrated with how the league handled the outbreak and there was concern they’d refuse to play on Tuesday.

It wouldn’t be the first time Baltimore’s players had shown some frustration over the league’s handling of the outbreak and the schedule this week. Defensive end Derek Wolfe had shared his exasperation in a now-deleted tweet that questioned the league’s stance on player health and safety prior to the game being rescheduled.

We’ll see if the game does indeed happen Wednesday. But that would seemingly involve no further positive COVID-19 tests and there being some time for Baltimore to practice.

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Ravens vs. Steelers game postponed to Wednesday

The Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Week 12 game has been rescheduled for a third time after health concerns.

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The NFL tried just about everything possible to make sure the Baltimore Ravens could take on the Pittsburgh Steelers this week. Unfortunately, Baltimore’s COVID-19 outbreak has continued on for too long for that to be safe. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Ravens vs. Steelers will now take place on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

Originally scheduled for Thanksgiving night, Baltimore had an outbreak of positive COVID-19 tests that forced the game to be rescheduled for Sunday evening. With the Ravens still having more COVID-19 cases pop up every day of the week, the NFL was once again forced to reschedule the game, this time to Tuesday. With more players testing positive over the weekend and others concerned about the quick turnaround without a day of practice, the NFL moved the game for a third time.

The Ravens added four more players to the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday, including tight end Mark Andrews, outside linebacker Matthew Judon, and wide receiver Willie Snead. Though they also returned four players from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Baltimore still has 20 players out because of the coronavirus.

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Ravens activate 4 players from Reserve/COVID-19 list

The Baltimore Ravens returned four players who had been on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

All week long, the Baltimore Ravens have seen players test positive for the coronavirus and they’ve placed players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. For the first time during this outbreak, the Ravens are actually getting players back. According to the team’s Twitter account, Baltimore has activated four players from the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

  • OLB Jaylon Ferguson
  • OL D.J. Fluker
  • DB Iman Marshall
  • DT Broderick Washington

While these four players aren’t the biggest names the Ravens put on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, their return does give Baltimore a little breathing room. The return of Fluker gives the Ravens a much-needed starter at right tackle while Washington’s return bolsters a defensive line that has been ravaged by both COVID-19 and injuries. With Matthew Judon currently on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, getting Ferguson back will be a huge help against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday.

The removal of four players from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, however, doesn’t actually change the team’s numbers. The Ravens also placed four players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday, keeping their list at 20.

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Ravens put 4 players on Reserve/COVID-19 list, including TE Mark Andrews

The Baltimore Ravens placed four more players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday after positive tests over the weekend.

As expected and we previously reported, several Baltimore Ravens players tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. The Ravens made the moves official but placing four players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Monday.

  • TE Mark Andrews
  • OLB Matthew Judon
  • WR Willie Snead
  • CB Terrell Bonds

While Andrews, Judon, and Snead were all expected with positive tests, Bonds is the unknown of this group. It’s unclear if he too tested positive for COVID-19 or if he was labeled as a “close contact” during contact tracing. The difference between the two designations is those that test positive are held out for a minimum of 10 days while close contacts are held out a minimum of five days.

With Snead testing positive, the coronavirus has hit every position group on Baltimore’s roster. The Ravens already had 20 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and while they returned some Monday as well, Baltimore still has a large chunk of its roster out for Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Ravens players react to NFL canceling practice while still scheduled to play Steelers Tuesday

The NFL canceled the Baltimore Ravens’ practice Monday but still has them scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Steelers Tuesday.

The NFL canceled the Baltimore Ravens’ Monday practice yet still has Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on the books. If that’s confusing to you, you’re not the only one.

With news that Baltimore’s practice had been canceled, Ravens players took to social media to share their thoughts. Rookie linebacker Patrick Queen let his silence do the talking for him.

Cornerback Marlon Humphrey is about to open up Zoom or maybe a game of Madden to figure out the winner of this game.

Linebacker L.J. Fort is looking for the bottle of Hennessy if this game actually happens — something former running back Marshawn Lynch recently admitted to doing before games.

This isn’t the first time Ravens players have been publicly flabbergasted by the NFL’s decision to play this game in the middle of an outbreak. Defensive end Derek Wolfe sarcastically pointed to the league’s “player safety” motto, calling it a joke.

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Ravens’ Monday practice canceled

The NFL canceled the Baltimore Ravens’ Monday practice, a day before they’re set to play the Pittsburgh Steelers for Week 12.

The NFL doesn’t want the Baltimore Ravens to practice on Monday morning. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the league canceled Baltimore’s morning practice.

The Ravens haven’t practiced since last Monday when they had a walkthrough before the influx of positive COVID-19 tests started. They’re currently scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Steelers Tuesday evening, a game that has been rescheduled twice already due to Baltimore’s COVID-19 outbreak.

Baltimore already has 20 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and have seen Mark Andrews, Matthew Judon, and Willie Snead test positive over the weekend but not yet be added to the list. With at least 23 players expected to be on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Baltimore currently has several positions without a starter on the depth chart and even more with no depth behind the starter due to injuries and COVID-19. However, the NFL showed they won’t reschedule a game because of a lack of competitive balance, considering they allowed the Denver Broncos to play on Sunday despite not having a healthy quarterback on the roster.

To be honest, I don’t get the NFL’s plan here. League officials don’t want the Ravens to practice, seemingly with the risk of further COVID-19 spread in mind. Yet, considering the game is still currently scheduled to happen, they’re perfectly fine with those same players and coaches playing Tuesday evening; hitting, blocking, and tackling players from another team, while stuffing themselves into a plane and locker room together.

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Willie Snead tests positive for COVID-19 Sunday

Every position group on the Baltimore Ravens’ 53-man roster has been hit by COVID-19 as WR Willie Snead is the latest to test positive.

With yet another positive test on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens now do not have a position that is safe from COVID-19. According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, wide receiver Willie Snead is the latest to test positive for COVID-19, being the first wide receiver on the team to get hit.

Every other position group has had at least one players test positive for COVID-19, including quarterback where Lamar Jackson and Trace McSorley were placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list last week. With 20 players already on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the additions of Mark Andrews, Matthew Judon, and now Snead will give Baltimore a minimum of 23 players out due to the coronavirus.

Snead testing positive for COVID-19 is another especially big blow to the Ravens’ offense. Over 10 games, Snead has caught 28 of 40 targets for 379 yards and three touchdowns. He’s emerged as one of Jackson’s more reliable targets over the last four games, seeing an uptick in production. Snead was also the most prolific pass catcher when Baltimore took on the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this season, catching five passes for 106 yards in a close, 28-24 loss.

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Ravens have more positive COVID-19 tests Sunday

The Baltimore Ravens had positive COVID-19 tests for the eighth-consecutive day in their lead-up to playing the Pittsburgh Steelers Tuesday.

The Baltimore Ravens will be without even more players against the Pittsburgh Steelers . . . That is if the game is actually played. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, the Ravens had more positive COVID-19 tests on Sunday.

This marks the eighth-consecutive day in which Baltimore has had a player or staff member test positive for COVID-19. Prior to these latest positive tests, the Ravens had 20 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list with at least two more to be added after tight end Mark Andrews and outside linebacker Matthew Judon tested positive.

The NFL has already rescheduled this game twice, moving it from Thanksgiving night to Sunday afternoon before changing it to Tuesday after more positive COVID-19 tests. However, with more positive tests rolling in just two days before the scheduled kickoff, it’s unclear exactly how the NFL expects this game to be played with the health and safety of players, staff, and officials in mind. Ravens defensive end Derek Wolfe questioned the league’s commitment to player health and safety earlier in the week.

Before the latest positive tests, Baltimore was looking at a depth chart that featured no starters at several positions and no depth behind the currently-available starters in several others. However, that doesn’t seem to be an excuse given that the NFL made the Denver Broncos play the New Orleans Saints Sunday despite having no healthy quarterbacks on the roster.

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Ravens vs. Steelers still on schedule for Tuesday despite COVID-19 outbreak

The NFL has no plans to reschedule the Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Week 12 matchup despite new positive tests over the weekend.

Both the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers have seen players and coaches test positive for COVID-19 over the last week, forcing the NFL to reschedule their Week 12 matchup twice. Yet, with even more people continuing to test positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, the NFL is sticking with a Tuesday kickoff. According to Penn Live’s Aaron Kasinitz, a league spokesperson said the NFL has not considered rescheduling the game a third time.

The Ravens saw outside linebacker Matthew Judon and tight end Mark Andrews test positive on Sunday while the Steelers had a coach and running back James Conner test positive on Saturday. In total, Baltimore will have at least 22 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list once Judon and Andrews are added, seeing 20 players either test positive or be labeled a “close contact” in the last week alone.

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The NFL has tried to buy time for Baltimore’s outbreak to subside, rescheduling the game from Thanksgiving night to Sunday afternoon before needing to push it back to Tuesday, Dec. 1. Even if the league wanted to reschedule the game again, they likely couldn’t manage to fit it into next week’s lineup and would instead have to create a Week 18 for make-up matches.

With a continuation of the outbreak for both Baltimore and Pittsburgh into the weekend, it would make sense for the NFL to have a backup plan in place. But with the league still having the Denver Broncos set to play without a healthy quarterback and other teams being forced to play despite their own respective COVID-19 outbreaks, the league has sent a pretty clear message that it’ll do whatever it can to play every game this season.

Ravens defensive end Derek Wolfe and Andrews seemingly questioned the league’s stance on player health and safety before their Week 12 game against the Steelers was rescheduled. As we get closer to Tuesday’s currently-scheduled kickoff, we’ll see if any other players raise public objections.

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NFL investigating Ravens for COVID-19 protocol violations

The NFL is investigating the Baltimore Ravens for protocol violations after seeing more than 20 players go on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Baltimore Ravens have had perhaps the most well-known COVID-19 outbreak of the season. But that might not be the only black eye for the franchise.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the NFL is investigating the Ravens for COVID-19 protocol violations. Considering the team already disciplined a strength and conditioning coach for not wearing his mask or tracking device consistently, it seems as though the league would have a good starting point in any investigation.

Baltimore put six more players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday before seeing tight end Mark Andrews and outside linebacker Matthew Judon test positive on Sunday. With Andrews and Judon testing positive, the Ravens will have a minimum of 22 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The NFL has been handing out punishments to several teams over the last few days for breaking protocol. The New Orleans Saints were the latest to get dinged, being fined $500,000 and losing a seventh-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, per Barry Wilner of the Associated Press. The New England Patriots were fined $350,000 as well.

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